Inside Labyrinth Walls
by PorcelainDollxx
Summary: "How are you still alive?" "It's the labyrinth. It wants you to finish the game. The only thing it doesn't protect is your sanity." / AU
1. Chapter 1

**Helloooo :D! Welcome to Inside Labyrinth Walls, a story inspired by -some- Coraline, -some- HP4, Pan's Labyrinth, and the song 'Get Out Alive' by Three Days Grace.**

**The legit summary:**

**Beware! For the time you spend in the labyrinth walls,  
>you'll see that this is the place where darkness crawls.<br>Inside this little game,  
>you'll see that people are not the same.<br>Try to find your way to the other side,  
>try to make it without losing you're mind.<br>If you want to play, go in if you dare,  
><strong>**but something you should remember is always beware.**

**This story is rated M for horrific stuff that comes in later on.  
><strong>**This story is AU.  
><strong>**This story is told in Dawn's point of view. **

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!  
>Enjoy :D!<br>**

* * *

><p>Chapter One<p>

"Dawn! Can you help out with these boxes?"

"Okay!" I yelled from inside the house.

Today was moving day. My mom got a new job with a much better pay so we decided to get ourselves a house. This is the first time I've lived in a house; before today it was only ever apartments, so I'm really excited about this move.

I only got to look at the entrance before my mom called me back to the car. I didn't even take it all in yet!

"I know you're excited Dawn, but you have the rest of your life to explore this house," is how my mom greeted my return.

"I know, but I'm just so excited about this!"

"Well then let me take down your excitement down a few notches. Help me bring these boxes inside."

"Fine, mother," I said in a clearly uninterested tone.

"Well here, take your stuff to your room at least," my mom said handing me a box.

"I'll do it, I'll do it, no need to worry," I said taking the box from my mom and entering the house with it.

As soon as one would enter the house they would see the living room on their left and the dining room on their right. Further down the hall on the right was the kitchen, and directly on the opposite side of the kitchen was the staircase to go upstairs, where I was heading.

Once I had gotten upstairs, I saw four rooms; the bathroom, the master bedroom- better known as my mom's room, and two other rooms, one will be my bed room, the other will be the study. My mom told me I got to pick which one of the two would be my room. I went into one of the rooms and looked around. The room definitely wasn't _small_, but it wasn't very big either. But it definitely wasn't going to be able to fit my queen-sized bed in there along with other things so on to the next room.

The other room was a lot more spacious and it also had a sit-on window sill. Needless to say, I was pretty sold. I decided to put my stuff down on the extended window sill. While walking across my room I tripped and fell, box in hand.

I lifted my upper body off of the floor. "Ouch~" I complained.

"Are you okay Dawn?" I heard my mom call from downstairs.

"No need to worry!" I called back.

"Ugh! What the hell!" I turned myself so I was sitting down facing the direction in which I tripped. I looked at my knees and elbows for scrapes, unfortunately I found a rather large scrape on my right leg, and a smaller one on my right elbow; and by the pain, I'll definitely have a bruise by tomorrow morning.

I looked up to see what I tripped on.

"A tile?" I crab-crawled to where the flipped tile was and held it in my hand, it _seemed_ like and ordinary tile; small and square shaped. Just broken I guess. I put it back to where it was and ignored it. I then went downstairs to get another box.

* * *

><p>Eventually, we had brought all of the boxes inside.<p>

"Alright, I'll just go bring these last few boxes to my room," I told my mom as I went back upstairs.

I got back upstairs to my room. I walked to the same spot where my other box was. Though this time making sure I didn't step on the loose tile, it would make a nasty fall with two pretty heavy boxes in hand.

I got to the other box safely this time.

"I have conquered you _floor_," I said strutting my stuff across to my door.

Suddenly, my face met up close and all too personal with the floor. "What the- couldn't let me win eh?" I yelled at my floor as crazy as that may sound. "UGH~" I complained while getting myself to sit up. "What the shit! That fucking hurts! I'm definitely complaining for carpet or a hardwood floor! This is ridiculous!" I complained out loud.

I looked up prepared to glare at my floor when I was taken by surprise when I saw that another tile was flipped as well.

I raised my eyebrow, "what the…" I crawled over to the broken tiles, "what is this house broken or something?" I was definitely not impressed. I didn't expect my mom to by a broken house, we don't have that much more money, and renovations are expensive.

I decided to check out how many of these tiles are loose so I started pulling at the tiles, and to my surprise, multiple came out.

As I was taking out the loose tiles I realized that there was something underneath the tiles. Of course I was curious to find out what it was, so I started removing all the loose tiles half excited and half hoping my mom doesn't walk past my door.

When I finally took them all out, I found the culprit of the loose tiles. It's -what seems to be- a trap door. It looked like a cliché looking trap door; wooden, black strips, one towards the bottom, the other towards the top, black bolts, and a circular –no middle- black handle.

I stood up with my hands on my hips staring at the mysterious door. Two things came to mind. First, this is definitely creepy but at the same time, incredibly intriguing. And secondly, and more importantly, why is there a door in my floor, especially since it's the second floor? Clearly I was confused and needed answers.

I walked to the edge of the door and pulled at the handle to get it open. Unfortunately it didn't budge. "I think I need reinforcements."

Quick conclusion. "MOM!"

* * *

><p>"Dawn, a door in your floor is ridic- oh my…" Mom was looking at the floor in shock.<p>

"See mom-"

"What did you do to the floor?"

I stared at my mom in shock, "mom, I'm showing you a trap door and you freak out about the tiles."

"Dawn, there's no reason to freak out over this, there's a clear explanation for it."

"What?" I put my hands on my hips, she did the same.

"Dawn they probably had a second staircase, or maybe this room wasn't a room it was a hallway and the stairs we have weren't there, there is such a thing as renovations. Anyways, maybe they decided not to have that staircase anymore so they took out the stairs, left the door, or put a door to cover it, and then put tiles to change the floor."

I sighed in defeat, "fine."

"Now put these tiles back."

"Can I do it tomorrow? It's almost supper and I want to relax afterwards. Those boxes were heavy and I ain't no body builder."

"Fine, but tomorrow, they better be back in their spot."

I chuckled, "okay, okay, no need to worry."

* * *

><p><strong>HI AGAIN :D! <strong>

**Nothing scary happens now, I KNOW, this is the first chapter, gosh people who question such things :P.**

**Also, if you have followed my other story, I will not be updating that fast. Why? Because that one was already written, in addition to it being summer. This one will take more time, and this story is my favorite idea I've had so far so I want to make awesome-ness and sparkly unicorns**** out of it :D. That being said, THIS WILL NOT BE DISCONTINUED, as none of my other stories would be. -.-**

**Keep reading & review because I give cyber hugs :D!  
>PorcelainDollxx <strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**PEOPLEEZZ, with a z, 12 reviews for the first chapter :D I see people are into this story, thank you to all of you who reviewed :D!**

**If you see any mistakes, my boyfriend corrected it, NOT MY FAULT :]**

**With that said, chapter two :D**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!****  
><strong>**Enjoy :D!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter two<p>

My mom and I were eating pizza for supper. We ordered it since there isn't many of the more _useful_ stuff here yet. One of these more useful things included the table; we were eating while sitting on camping chairs.

"Dawn the moving truck is going to be here at 7:30 tomorrow morning, so I advise you to go to bed early tonight."

I swallowed my bite, "that's fine; there isn't anything to do here anyways."

My mom nodded at me and then took a bit into her pizza. When she finished her slice she added something else, "your blow-up mattress is in the living room. Bring it in your room and start pumping when you finished your supper.

"Okay," I replied.

* * *

><p>When I finished eating, I did as I was told. I got my mattress from the living room and brought it up to my room and found a place where the tiles weren't in my way. Then I went back downstairs to get the pump. I hate pumping mattresses, it took a lot of work but eventually I was done and brought the pump back downstairs.<p>

I decided to go to bed right away. There was honestly nothing to do here, so why not?

Since my enormous box of clothes was only coming tomorrow, I didn't really have pyjamas. So I decided to change into the extra clothes I brought instead. I slipped out of my skirt and put on some light pink jogging pants and I took off my halter top for a light blue V-neck t-shirt. I placed my boots at the foot of the sit-on window sill and went to go get some blankets and a pillow.

When I got downstairs I saw my mom's mattress on the floor of the living room, and she was getting some blankets and a pillow for herself as well.

"Are you going to bed too?" I asked her.

"Huh?" She turned around, "yeah, might as well since we'll be getting up pretty early tomorrow. Don't forget to put the tiles back before the movers come."

"I won't, no need to worry mom," I said as I walked past her to get a pillow and a couple of blankets.

"Goodnight," I said as I hugged my mom.

She hugged me back, "goodnight dear, love you," she then gave me a kiss on the head.

"Love you too mom," I said then I walked upstairs to my room.

I got to my room and starting making my bed. I put a cover on the mattress, then a pillow, then the other cover over it. I thought I did a good job. I closed the light and climbed into bed.

* * *

><p><em>Beware… beware~ … get out!<em>

_Screams_

_More screams; louder…_

_Get the fuck out!_

I shot up, "what the fuck!" I put my hand over my mouth realizing it was still dark outside. Whatever I had there, was not normal, it wasn't even a dream. I mean, it was, but it felt… _different_.

I looked around my room. That's when I realized something was different. I know it might not seem like much, but the handle to the "trap" door was flipped over. Like I said, it probably doesn't seem like much, but that thing wasn't a light weight so an excuse like "it was the wind" would definitely not suffice.

I got up and walked over to the door in my floor. I kneeled down and gently flipped the door knob to the other side.

_Thunk!_

I jumped and back away. What just happened?

_Silence_

Nothing moved nothing made a sound. I was _afraid_ to move.

All of a sudden, I heard wind.

I looked outside. It didn't seem to be windy. I walked over to the window and studied the trees; the leaves weren't moving.

_Blood hurling scream_

I whipped myself around, "what the hell is going on here?"

_Screams_

It seemed to come from downstairs. I started panicking; my mom was sleeping downstairs. I ran downstairs as fast as I could. I found my mom still sleeping in the living room, and it was very silent down here.

Oh my God, I was losing my mind! I went back upstairs to my room.

I got to my room and started to walk to my window sill to sit down, all the while repeating "I'm losing it".

As soon as I walked past the door in my floor I heard it again.

_Screams_

I looked at the "trap" door again, "I'm… _not_ losing it?"

Something was going on with that door. I took the handle and pulled as an attempt to open the door again. To my surprize, it opened. There were stairs going down. Of course this doesn't make sense, but honestly, recently, nothing had. So I put on a hoodie, put my boots on, and walked into the door.

As I was walking down the stairs, I realized the stairs were changing. When I first walked down the stairs, they were really rusty and made out of metal; I was afraid to continue in fear they wouldn't hold my weight, I'm not saying I'm big, but they looked _that_ fragile. But as I was going deeper and deeper down under, I realized the stairs changed; they became fancy Champaign-coloured marble stairs.

As for what was in front of me, I could barely see a thing. As I went deeper, the walls and stairs starting getting covered in a green glow; it came from the torches with green flames. There was one every forth step. It lit up when the sensor would pick up my movement. There was definitely that eerie feel, but my curiosity was a lot stronger than my fear at the moment so I continued to walk down the seemingly endless staircase until I got to the end.

"What?" was my reaction when I came face to face with a wall. I was so confused.

I gently brushed the tips of my fingers against the wall, wondering if there was any kind of hidden button that would make this all make sense.

"Sand?" I lifted my hand to catch what was actually dust.

All of a sudden, the wall shook.

I jumped, took my hand away from the wall and backed away.

The wall started shaking violently and dust kept on falling to the ground. I looked back up to the wall, underneath the dust was black, I couldn't see very well where I stood so I decided to walk up a few steps to get a better look at the wall.

Words

I read the words aloud, "Beware! For the time you spend in the labyrinth walls, you'll see that this is the place where darkness crawls. Inside this little game, you'll see that people are not the same. Try to find your way to the other side; try to make it without losing your mind. If you want to play, go in if you dare but something you should remember is always beware."

At that moment, the wall separated.

"Whoa!" The wall separated into the entrance of the labyrinth.

"Do I… go?" The warning was definitely warning enough. Inside the labyrinth was minimal lighting and the walls were the same colour as the wall that just separated before me. But the idea itself is intriguing.

"I'm definitely more intrigued than scared…" A pause for thought. "Let's do this."

I walked inside, and as fast as I took five steps in, the entrance to the labyrinth sealed itself.

_Let the horrors begin!_

* * *

><p><strong>HOW WAS IT?<strong>

**Now you all know what's in the door :D, isn't it exciting :D? sidenote: if you aren't excited pretend to be :D**

**OKAY, now that Dawn is in the labyrinth it'll take more time to update because I'm still debating where this story is going - how the ending will end, and I'm scared I decide to do something else and then have to change everything so, I'll be writing a few chapter on notebook before posting it. Like I said, I want to make sparkly unicorns out of this story :D. **

**Keep reading & review because they mean cyber hugs :D, and everyone loves hugs :D. But not more than me, let's make that clear!  
>PorcelainDollxx <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! Sorry it's been so long. So much work, so little free time, and also a brief writers block. But everything is good now! :D**

**I'm freaking exhausted, I had to wake up at 6:50 this morning -yes on a Saturday! so I'm going to bed soon, not going to edit. Please inform me of my mistakes :], greatly appreciated. **

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!  
><strong>**Enjoy :D!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

_+Now time for goodbye_

_He said+_

_+As he faded away_

Afraid wasn't really the word I would use, more like regret. Darkness was the only thing that lay ahead, which retraced my steps, and which was my surroundings. I tried to feel my way around, of course how could that have helped? How was I to know of my other options; to go right, left, or straight? I could have been going in circles for all I knew.

My eyes have yet to adjust to the darkness. They were taking more time than they would normally take and it was definitely frustrating.

It felt like forever, but eventually I was able to get my sight back… sort of. My help came from the _very_ limited amount of lighting. Unfortunately, these "lights" were very spaced out; I wouldn't know when I would be able to see light again.

I stood in the spot where the minimal light hit. Now I was scared. Scared out of my mind; I didn't know if I was alone or if there were other people out there; onwards. The worst part of it all was that I didn't know what to expect.

My curiosity screamed and told me to keep going, my conscience however was pleading, pleading to go back and leave this place. I turned around. I didn't even know where I was. I can't retrace lost steps. In addition to that, I knew that the wall had closed behind me. The only way out was the exit of this labyrinth.

I turned around, I heard singing- no, humming. It sounded like some kind of chant. I sounded like something you'd hear in horror movies. I wanted to stay where I was, forever. But I knew I had to keep going if I wanted to get out. I didn't even know how long the labyrinth was.

I pressed my hands against the wall, leaning on it, trying to think.

"What the-!" The wall moved, and then nothing. I couldn't believe how fast the wall in front of me disappeared.

I stumbled forward and fell into the darkness. My own screams echoed throughout the labyrinth. Then I hit the floor. Thank goodness I wasn't falling face first. I did get a good landing though, I landed on my feet. But boy did my legs hurt.

I looked up. I had no idea of how high I fell from. And how was I to get back up? I looked around. Or was this still part of the labyrinth? So, was I supposed to find this place? God how I hate unanswered questions.

I crossed my arms and looked around. This part of the labyrinth was a lot different than the one over it. This part didn't have marble walls, instead, the walls were hedges. This place also wasn't as dark as upstairs. There was a blue hue to everything and it looked like there was fog on top of the hedges which made the blue hue look like it was sparkling. It actually looked beautiful.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

"That sound," I remarked out loud. Wind brushed against the bushes. It wasn't the warmest of winds, I was glad I brought a sweater.

_HM~! HM~! HM-!_

Terror

I walked to the closest intersection. The sound was coming from my right. I ran down the "hall" hearing my footsteps on the dirt path beneath me. Right, left, straight.

I found the source of the sound. Somebody… a man, sat on the floor, his back facing me. He was bald and wore a dark green sweater. He looked like he was… rocking; back and forth, back and forth.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

"Sir?" I called out to him while carefully approaching him.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

It sounded familiar.

I got to the point where I was right next to him. I tapped his shoulder, "sir?" He still faced the front, rocking.

I walked to the front of him and bent down to his level. His eyes were taped shut and he had a cloth over his mouth tied to the back of his neck.

"Oh my God." He must have been in so much pain.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

Maybe he wanted to say something. His hands and ankles were tied together. "Who did this to you?"

I carefully took out the tape from his eyes, trying not to hurt him. His eyes stayed closed. I took out the cloth from over his lips. His lips were purple and burgundy. He had eventually opened his eyes.

"Are you ok- … sir?" His eyes were _white_. He had no pupils. He looked up at me with a grin and frowning eyes. "… S-sir?"

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

His grin got wider; it seemed to look more like a devious smile. "Oh God," I muttered.

He lifted his hands, the tips of them were black and his nails were long. He tilted his head. He closed his fingers into his palms and opened them out again as a sign of waving.

I stepped back but still waved back at him. The least I want to do is upset him.

"What brings you here little girl?" His voice was raspy.

"I… Uh… I… Curiosity, yeah." How could you really react to someone with no pupils?

He paused, his smile disappeared. "Curiosity _killed_ the cat you know."

Oh my God, I'm going to die here. My eyes widened and I turned around and walked away from him.

* * *

><p>What seemed to be hours later, I came to realize that I was more lost than ever. I sat on the ground knees to my chest barely leaning against the hedge. I put my head to my knees and started to sob.<p>

What was I doing here? I didn't even know where I was going or what I was looking for. I was scared. I terribly regretted entering the labyrinth. And I didn't even know what the hell I was doing! I was getting frustrated. Nothing was going right.

If only I had someone who knew what they were doing. I needed guidance, I needed help, I needed… to feel safe.

Eventually I realized that I was spacing out and my tears had stopped. I got up and decided to start walking again. I had to keep moving, how else was I supposed to get out? Whatever out _was_.

I got to an opening; it was a huge empty circle, as if a UFO had landed there. On the other side of the circle were a bunch of paths. Of course this can go horribly wrong, but technically this is a game of chance, so I took one; third path on my left.

Right, left, right

That's when I saw a little girl. She looked like she was six years old. How the heck did she get here? The little girl had long blonde pigtails, she wore a white blouse and over it, a fuchsia dress that reached to her knees, with matching Mary Jane shoes. But her appearance was anything but proper; she looked like she has recently been playing in the dirt. This girl was crying; hysterically.

On the floor nearby was a porcelain doll. It was beautiful, it had long brown hair, covering it was a white sun hat with blue flowers on it. Her dress was mostly blue, but the ruffles at the bottom were white. The only thing wrong with the doll was that it's face was cracked; right in between its sapphire eyes.

I figured that that was the reason why the little girl was crying.

I picked up the doll and approached the little girl.

"Hey there," I said in a soft voice.

She didn't stop crying.

"Did you drop this?" I asked showing her the doll.

"NO~! The dolly… it tried… it tried to hurt me~! Get it… away from me!" She said in between sobs.

"What? Little girl, it's just a-"

"NO~!" She screamed.

All of a sudden out of nowhere, head less horsemen came charging at me. They looked very lifelike, but they also looked like shadows, I wasn't sure if I should start running.

When they were getting closer I decided to run for my life, doll in hand. What did I do?

Suddenly, I was nearing a dead end. Regardless, I continued running without slowing down, till I felt something on my arm and then I got pulled into the hedge.

* * *

><p><strong>How was Dawn's first day inside the labyrinth? I wouldn't want to be her :**

**TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!**

****ALSO, before I get questions about this, the porcelain doll in the story does not look like me, freaking at all! :P ****

**Next chapter is pretty short, just a small heads up so don't sue me, I'm allowed.**

**FREAKING BED, coming now. **

**GOODNIGHT!**

**Keep reading & Review for a cyber hug :), I'm pretty broken right now, but I'll try my best to give hugs :D  
>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**EVERYONE IS UPDATING THEIR STORIES TODAY :D. YAY! Let's follow trend! **

**Kay so, this is short like I've warned, but it had to stop where it did, it felt right, WRITERS INTUITION I say!**

**I think you guys will like this chapter ;), go on! Start the reading!**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!****  
><strong>**Enjoy :D!**

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

+Don't put your life in

Someone's hands+

+They're bound to steal it away

Bushes surrounded me. I looked back at the path. The horsemen, they just ran into the hedge, but they vanished, just like that. I looked back to where the little girl stood, she was gone too. I looked down; the doll was still in my hands though, so it wasn't an illusion.

I froze, seconds later I realized how I got into the hedge. My heart pounded fiercely. Someone was behind me. Someone… or something, I didn't know. I slowly turned my head to see whom, or what, was behind me.

_Gasp!_

I stumbled out of the bushes and tripped backwards onto the floor, the doll flew out of my grip. He walked out calmly behind me.

"Usually not the type of greeting I'd expect from someone whom I've just saved," he laughed, "but I'll take it," he extended his hand, "hi, I'm Ash."

I looked up at him, afraid to trust the guy who just saved my life.

"I won't bite."

I chuckled, "that wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've seen all day." I took his hand as he helped me up. I kept his hand in mine and shook it once, "Dawn," I stated.

He smiled, took back his hand and nodded at me.

"So are you going to explain what just happened?"

"Yeah, you were attacked."

I raised my eyebrow at him, "thanks captain obvious, I meant _what_ was that?"

"I can't really tell you that one Dawn."

"What? Why not?"

"Look, you'll find out sooner or later, but I just can't tell you, sorry."

I pouted, "Fine."

I then looked up at him and smiled.

"What?" He noticed of course.

"Why are you the only normal one I've met?"

He laughed, "Because I don't lose my mind that easily."

"What is this place?" I said walking up to the dead end and touching the hedge where I saw the horsemen disappear.

"I call it the fun house of doom," he replied putting his hands in his pockets and while walking towards me."

"Some _fun_ house."

"Dawn, there is a lot to this place you don't know."

I turned around to face him, a puzzling expression on my face.

"Well, how long have you been here?"

I lifted my arms partially and then hit them to my sides, "I don't know, like a day?"

"Wow, you're really new here."

_Screams echoed the labyrinth, blood hurling, they sent shivers._

"New?"

"Dawn, this may come as a shock to you, but I've been here for like… five years."

My eyes widen. "…what~?" I asked in disbelief. "How could someone be in here for so long and _not_ lose their mind?"

"I've met many people and I believe I _am_ the only sane one."

"Wait a minute," I paused in realization, "Ash, how are you still alive?"

"It's the labyrinth. It wants you to finish the game. The only thing it doesn't protect is your sanity."

I blinked multiple times. "The… _labyrinth_… _protects_ you," I paraphrased carefully.

Ash nodded, "yeah."

I had to sit down, none of this was making sense. Ash sat down next to me.

"How are your clothes not torn, how do you eat?"

"Well, think of it this way, when you sleep, it's like all of your energy is regained. Basically, you don't need food. And your sleeping habits are thrown out the window. There are other people here and you don't want them messing with you while you're a sleep. As for my clothes, I don't know, maybe they grow with me every year."

"Wait~ a minute. You've been here for five _years_ and still haven't found the exit? I'm going to be here for the rest of my life." I hit my head against my bent knees.

"I'm not that great with labyrinths. But now that I'm used to it I found some tricks."

"That seems hopeful." He just chuckled.

I looked at him, "how old are you?"

"Seventeen, you?"

"Sixteen."

He smiled at me then got up.

"Wait," he looked back at me. I got up as well.

"Do… do people die here?"

Surprisingly he shook his head. "What?" again I questioned in disbelief.

He approached me. "I had a friend before; we hung around for maybe a year or two. Towards the end, he went crazy. He said he kept hearing things and seeing things; horrible things. It got to the point where he wanted to kill himself. And he attempted too countless times, but he couldn't because you can't die here, but he didn't believe it, doesn't want to believe it, so now he's in death hall."

"Death hall?" I questioned.

"Yeah, it's a place you don't want to cross, but unfortunately you can't avoid it, they're everywhere because people can't take it and they go insane. Death hall is basically a hall of torture. People who want to die go there, even though they can't. When you would "die" here, you are basically unconscious for 24 hours, and then you wake up again, fully healed."

"Oh wow… will I… pass by a death hall?"

"Probably, they're all over the place."

I put my head in my hands, "why is this place so damn mad!"

Ash just shrugged, "it ain't all that bad once you get used to it."

I sighed. "Come on," he said, "let's get going, let's find a way out of this place."

"Wait? We're in this together? Like we're going to go at this… together?"

"Well sure, unless you don't want to and want to continue this by yourself that is."

He could sure make me feel stupid. "Well, I mean, I though, you know, _you_ didn't want to go, well, together. Because I," I pointed at myself, "I, don't mind."

He gave me a weird and confused look.

"I'll just…" I walked toward him to follow him.

If I continued acting this way, then things were going to start being really awkward, really quickly.

* * *

><p><strong>You know what I hate. Purple skittles, nasty little things -.-#<br>****Anyways, Ash is here~ :D. Interesting stuff is coming up, don't worry about it.**

**What did you thinkk :D? Let me know! It gets better from here. It hasn't been scary so far, but I think I'm going for more... gory ;), SOON! - NEXT CHAPTER.**

****ok Bro's & Dudettes, I have a OLD character coming into the story -and no -.- not from pokemon. Think... myths ;) You get a bigger cyber hug than anyone else if you guess it right ;)****

****Keep reading & review and I'll give you a cyber hug~ :D.  
>PorcelainDollxx <strong>**


	5. Chapter 5

**OH SNAP. Two whole months! I'm so sorry T.T . I honestly didn't even type it up or write in it until recently. I wrote parts of this story in distance of each other that's why the writing seems different at the end then it does at the beginning. :/ REGARDLESS. I'm sorry if it's not good enough for some of you, I'll be more put together hopefully shortly. But SCHOOL IS OUT for nine months so I shall be updating more frequently. :D**

**ENOUGH BLAB.**

**ENTER CHAPTER FIVE**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!  
>Enjoy :D!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<p>

_+ Don't hide your mistakes_

'_Cause they'll find you+_

_+Burn you_

It started to get darker and darker by the minute so it seemed. The majestic blue light and the fog from earlier have all disappeared. Everything had an eerie feel suddenly. Even the hedges were darker here.

Ash and I haven't really said much to each other since we started walking these labyrinth walls together. We kind of just kept to ourselves.

Out of my head and back into reality, I realized Ash had stopped walking. I stopped as well and diverted my eyes to in front of my instead of having them on the ground.

The hedges were gone. In replace, beige marble walls that had torches to light up the path took its place. This part of the labyrinth was in caved, the marble walls continued to be a roof. There wasn't light at the end of this tunnel, instead, darkness. His meant that the tunnel was quite the length, therefore we would be in there for a while.

I looked at Ash who looked at the tunnel with a curious look.

"Is everything okay Ash?"

He continued to stare at it intently until he finally answered me, he didn't look at me though, his eyes were still fixed on the entrance. "I've never seen this place before."

I smiled, "well then this is a good thing right?"

He looked down and then made a frown, "maybe…"

"Well then, let's go!"

"We don't even know if it's safe in there!"

"Ash," I started putting my hands on my hips, "you said we can't die, how are we not safe?"

Ash gave me a look, "fine, but if something happens to us, it's going over your head." He started to walk into the tunnel. I rolled my eyes and followed him.

The air in the tunnel was thick and it was hot in there. Of course this was part of the maze, but the tunnel just kept going straight; it didn't make sense.

"DO IT!"

_Slash._

We both stopped in our tracks, I looked at Ash who looked at me in alert.

"Ash… what's going on?" I got closer to him.

He didn't answer me though, he just looked around with curiosity, I felt like he knew something was up.

"Stay here!" he warned. I nodded back and leaned against the wall while he disappeared further down the tunnel.

In this part of the tunnel, the walls were red. They weren't supposed to be that way though; you could tell that it was stained.

Ash came back ten minutes later. "Dawn! You need to follow me!"

There was definitely no objection there. I nodded. He took my hand and led the way.

All of these walls were coloured red and the path was narrowing. Screams echoed around us and I was feeling uncomfortable. Especially since the screams were coming from the direction we were walking towards.

"Ash, what is this place?" terror outlined my voice.

He said nothing which I found to be terribly uncomforting.

When we got the end, he finally spoke.

He turned to face me and he looked me in the eyes, "Dawn, listen, what you're about to see…" he was at a loss for words. "Let's just get out of there as fast as we can."

"Ash, what are you talking about? What's going on here?"

Again he didn't reply. Screams echoed the place louder this time. He pushed one part of the wall and it opened up into an arched doorway.

"Brace yourself." He extended his hand for me to take. I took it and closed my eyes while he led me through the archway. When I was through, I opened my eyes and gasped almost instantly. I couldn't believe my eyes which watched the horrific scream in front of me take place. "Oh… my… God…" My hand rose to my mouth.

People… hundreds, chained to the wall behind them; many limp and unconscious. Opposite of them lay weapons, many many weapons. They lay on catapults which held them by chain.

A girl in her late teens with short orange hair was yelling. **(a/n: no not Misty.) **"DO IT! Let's get this over with, END THIS!" The catapult opposite her responded to her cries as it launched an iron spiked ball at her. It hit her in the chest. Her horrific scream of pain was so loud.

"Ash…" I felt breathless, "get me out of here."

He nodded and led me out. Half way out, the spike ball on the girls chest returned to the catapult leaving her limp. Her chest was sunk in, the holes were so bad, and if I was at her level I could probably almost see through her. Blood just dripped out of her constantly, like an endless stream.

I could have broken down right there. I collapsed to my knees, heart pounding fiercely.

"Dawn... Dawn, let's get out of here, okay?"

I was so motionless, my facial expression was neutral, and I was irresponsive. Ash picked me up and ran out of the tunnel. A new scene took place on the other side of the tunnel. On this side, darkened emerald green took the colour of the overgrown thorns that took the place of the labyrinth walls.

Ash set me down on the floor. "Dawn, are you okay?" He sat down next to me. My head shook slowly. I only made small movements.

"That was a death hall. The mother of them all but nonetheless…"

Still, I was motionless.

"Dawn! You cannot be this weak! The labyrinth will get the best of you and you will go crazy just like everyone else in this fucked up place!"

He was right. I needed to be stronger; emotionally. I pulled myself together shortly, "you're right."

He smiled at me warmly before warmly giving me a hug which I gladly accepted and returned.

"Come on," he said, "let's find our way out." He stood up and held out his hand, I took it and we continued walking.

* * *

><p>The dirt road crunched beneath our feet as we walked. It was dark. Only a seeming moonlight became our light of guidance. Because the labyrinth walls were made of enlarged twisted thorns, we could see the paths around us, but because of the thorns we couldn't get through.<p>

Ash again came to a halt. He looked up, my eyes trailed his gaze. A black barbed wire archway stood grounded before us. On the arc was the sign 'Pasiphae's Labyrinth' twisted with the barb wire.

"Who's Pasiphae?" Ash asked me.

I looked at him, "I thought you would have known this one."

Ash and I thought nothing of it and continued on our path, choosing out lefts and rights according to what we saw through the thorns.

*&^%$

"Oh God, please, no!" a man's cry for mercy. Ash and I both looked at each other and started running to the direction where we heard his voice.

While running I looked through the large thorns for guidance, maybe I would be able to find the guy. That's when I saw something. "Ash!" I whispered loudly. He turned around to see why I had called him. With my hand, I gestured for him to come where I was.

I pointed through the thorns when he stood by me. We were both speechless. An animal, human, thing was holding an axe while standing two centimeters away from a man who was motionless on the floor. He got slashed at. There were two severely deep cuts on his back which resulted to the pool of blood he lay in. The thing howled at his victory. The thing was hardly describable. His face had a huge cut going across. On one side of the cut, a human face; he had orange curly hair and a blue eye. The other side however resembled that of a bull. His eye looked like a black marble, and his mouth, it wasn't a human mouth, but that that very much belong to a bull. He was very muscular, but had cuts everywhere. He had a human torso and arms along with hands. The lower part however was definitely that of a bull.

"Minotaur…" Ash whispered.

"Who?"

He made a little gasp, "Pasiphae, mother of Minotaur. She created a labyrinth for Minotaur."

"So… we're on Minotaur's property?" I asked looking at Ash who returned the gaze. He simply nodded at me.

"Crap. We cannot let him now we're here." Again he nodded.

I looked around. I then saw lights of a house that was built on a hill. "Ash, there!" I pointed to the house, "we need to get there, at least we'll be away from Minotaur."

"Good idea," he agreed.

The last we both saw of Minotaur, he was dragging the poor man's limp body away.

* * *

><p>We pretty much got as good as lost. We were nowhere near that house. About 30 minutes had passed since we got the idea and we seemed to only be going in circles. The house was never getting any closer.<p>

"Why isn't that damn house not getting any closer?" I yelled in frustration.

My question went unanswered as we kept walking.

Soon after, it got really dark. I was only able to pinpoint the outline of the thorns, luckily for me, Ash could see better than I could in the dark, so I held onto him for the most part. He said he didn't mind, so I continued to hold onto his forearm.

I paused which made Ash stop in his tracks.

"What's up Dawn?"

"Ash, I think I hear something."

We stood in silence for a moment. "I don't hear anything," he retorted.

"Somebody's coming!" I whispered loudly.

"_Nobody_ is coming!"

I pulled his arm and ran. I definitely heard footsteps; dragged footsteps.

When I felt as if we were farther away we took a breather. We were both quiet, and that's when I heard it again.

Footsteps

My eyes widened and I turned to face Ash, "it's following us!"

Again silence

"Dawn! Nobody is following us!"

"I hear it Ash!"

The noises got closer.

"Fuck! Ash, we got to run!" But he grabbed my arm to prevent me from leaving.

"Dawn! Stop it! Just relax; you're going to lose it."

I was pleading, it was getting closer. "Please Ash," tears were forming, "it's coming closer." I was so scared.

"DAWN! Stop it! You're delusional, I hear nothing!"

"A-ash, ple-" my eyes widen in fear, mouth trembling, words struggled to come out.

"It's… here…"

"Who? What? Nobody is-"

My words were low, but clear,

"Minotaur"

_Slash._

* * *

><p><strong>So, how was it? CLIFFHANGER I know. Change of scenery for next chapter :D<strong>

**Also, if you guys are wondering, the little blurbs at the beginning are lyrics from the song Get Out Alive from Three Days Grace, that song is the guideline to my story, so if you want to take a guess at what happens, listen to the song first! Don't take wild guesses unless you've heard it.**

**OKOK, I'm off.**

**Keep reading & Review because reviews = cyber hugs, and who doesn't want cyber hugs :D  
>PorcelainDollxx <strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Uhm, Hi guys *shuffles feet* ^^'.**

**I am SO SORRY. I started writing this chapter two weeks after I finished the last and then BAM, inspiration gone. I tried to get it back believe me, but that's when I had to put this story on hiatus, but I didn't stop thinking about this story, during the last month I watched Pan's Labyrinth and The Labyrinth while taking notes and I got my inspiration back last week and started to write again, and now here it is.**

**Though I do want to address a couple of people. **

**Pissed of(f?) angry person (anon) : I understand your frustration, I did say that I would be updating more frequently and didn't :/ But you didn't have to bring up my newer story, I have 8 1/2 chapters written for it so I'm allowed to put it up. ALSO, my other stories are easier to write for because they're Romance/Drama - my favorite stories to write, a horror story like this one, I have to be in the mind set, or else the chapter will just be crap, and I don't quite accept crap.**

**Slapwave (anon): Bitch please. I'm not a lemon writer. Rated M = Mature content. Since when does mature content always have to involve sex? I mean if you want me to add the citrus-y fruit in the next chapter, I'll add how there were a bunch of lemons blocking their path. Other than that take a hike and stop trolling my fic.**

**And to the rest, enjoy the chapter. :]**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!  
>Enjoy :D!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<p>

+ Then he said

If you want to get out alive +

+ Run for your life

"mmph…" I made a frown as my eyes flickered open, but only lightly, my eyelids barely lifted. I was lying down on my side. I turned my upper body so that it was on the ground before I used my arms and lifted myself off of the ground.

My eyes had yet to open, but when they did they didn't like what they saw.

We were in a basement of some sort. The only light source we had was a flickering light bulb above us.

Us

Ash!

I looked around. Thankfully Ash was nearby. I shook him awake.

"Ash, wake up!" I said.

He made a frown, he was waking up. When he opened his eyes, I was hovered over him. "Hello Dawn," he said with a smile.

Does he remember that we're stuck inside a fucked up labyrinth? He should _not_ be smiling. Though, this was the first time that I saw him smile since we got together. I think he got his head hit hard before we got down here.

Down here, in a basement.

"Ash, we're not outside anymore!"

"What?" he sat up in alert. He looked around. "Fuck, where are we?"

I looked around with him, "I have no idea."

We were in a room; a single room. The only way to get out seemed to be from a set of stairs that led to a door.

I got up and started walking up the stairs, Ash followed me. When I opened the door, the scene in front of me was so bizarre. It looked like a maze within a house and at the end of each hallway was a door.

In contrast to the labyrinth outside, this one was lit up so that one could see perfectly, which was great. But what wasn't very pleasant was that the house was dead silent.

Wait a minute

House

"No way!" Yup, I realized.

"What?"

"Remember that house we wanted to get to? Ash, I think this is it."

"How did we get here?"

We both tried to remember, but neither of us seemed to have any idea of how we got here. We decided to let it go and go exploring.

We both agreed on a "path" and continued on our search for the exit of this labyrinth. At the end of the path, there was a light brown wooden door. When we opened it, it was a dark room with the furniture of a bedroom, including a bed in which someone lay. Ash and I looked at each other; there was definitely someone in that bed.

"Hello?"

It didn't budge.

Ash walked closer to the bed. There were no windows, so the only light that entered the room was from the hallway.

When he got to the bed, he bent forward to get a closer look.

"Ash?"

He didn't acknowledge me. He just continued staring till he pulled the covers off of the thing.

If I wasn't there at the moment, I wouldn't have believed myself.

Ash stumbled back but caught himself.

"MMH!"

He was alive.

Ash and I were both very shaken up.

This man couldn't see nor speak. I wanted to faint. His eye lids, his lips, _sown_ together. The thread was black and painfully thick and at every stitch was dried up blood.

"MMMH! MMMH!"

He was struggling and he was scared, but Ash and I did nothing, we couldn't. We didn't know _what_ to do.

His hands were duct taped together, maybe we could have helped untie his hands, but we couldn't.

A voice

"Coming darling~!"

Ash and I looked at each other in alert, if we didn't get out of sight fast, we were next.

"MMMH!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" an older woman's voice called out.

She was getting closer.

That's when Ash ran to me and shoved me into a wooden closet at the foot of the bed. Then he came in with me and closed the door. Unfortunately, the door didn't close and kept itself open a crack just enough for us to see what's going on.

Finally the old lady came into the room.

"Oh, don't worry son, Nanny's got you."

"MMH!MMMH!MMMH!" They were cries of terror.

"Oh, you must be upset because your stitches are loose. Here, let me help you."

My eyes grew wide. Is this woman serious?

"MMH!MMMH!MMMH!MMH!" They felt like pleads.

I was shaking, I couldn't bare it.

I guess Ash felt that, because he took me in his arms as comfort.

I couldn't keep me eyes off the old woman though.

She didn't _seem_ psychotic. She was a plump woman, she had, from what I could make out, a light pink dress which a white apron, and she also wore a knitted pullover that hung across her back.

"Don't worry son, you'll be back to normal in no time," she said sweetly as she dabbed her finger on his nose.

I clutched onto Ash's shirt. I was afraid for this man.

The old woman took out threat and a needle from her pouch on the apron.

This was not happening. I dug my head in Ash's chest. I could have cried right there and then, but I knew that if the old woman heard any sound coming from us, we'd be done for, so I held my tongue.

I looked back at the man; he was struggling to get away from the old lady's voice.

"Oh, don't fret. This won't hurt a bit pumpkin," she assured him.

He's shaking his head pleading. She wasn't acknowledging him though; she was too preoccupied trying to put the thread into the needle hole **(a/n: That's about as much "lemon" you're going to get.)**.

When she got it, she says, "It'll just be like a pulling out a Band-Aid; fast, but it'll only hurt for a bit," as she stabs the needle through his lower lip.

"MMMH!" I could hear it in his voice, he was crying.

I couldn't see well, but I could see the blood dripping down his chin, and as she pierces more skin, it only got worse, and he's screaming. The pain that reflected in his screams, I _felt_ them. The old lady on the other hand, wasn't hearing anything.

Ash gripped me tighter. I felt his heartbeat, it was probably as loud as mine, unless it was mine I felt pumping so hard it could fly out of my chest.

"Oh! You're all wet," she said while she examined his jaw when she finished with her stitching. "I'll go get some paper towels."

That's our cue.

As soon as she left, Ash and I made a quick escape from the closet and sprint out the door in the opposite direction in which she left.

When we felt confident enough that we were far away from her, we let our guard down.

"Wet? Wet she says! What happened to _bleeding_ to death?"

"Dawn, just relax."

My jaw dropped. "Relax? Relax? Ash, there might be other people like that all because that crazy bitch can't see red from clear!"

He laughed.

_Laughed_!

I was probably glowing red in anger, but I held my temper.

*&^%

We continued to walk in silence until we got to a dead end, which in this house-maze meant a door that lead to somewhere messed up.

We both just stared at the door for a few seconds. I was actually afraid to open it, even after everything I've experienced. Even though this can't be worse than the last door we went through, I'm terrified of what's behind this door.

Ash decided to reach for the door handle and turn it. He shoved it open. We both didn't take a step forward until the door was fully open.

Inside this room was a dining room with a huge dining room table placed at the center of the room. This table was filled with food. Beautiful, tempting food. To complete this "look" was a… thing which was placed sitting down at the head of the table. The creature had no eyes, a nose which could have resembled that of a snake, his mouth was cherry red with, what seemed like blood, caked around his mouth which was partially opened and stood out from his pasty white exterior. His hands were palm down on the table placed parallel to each other and he didn't move a muscle.

"Do we go in?" I whispered to Ash.

"I guess," he whispered back.

Ash and I stepped inside with a light foot and looked around.

I put my hands inside my sweater pockets as I looked around. The only furniture was the table, but there were many picture frames on the walls. The odd thing was that they were pictures of kids, and on the framed themselves, there were marker markings of red X's on all of the kids. I didn't understand until I looked around to face the creature and behind him were the heads of the kids in the pictures with their eyes gone.

"Ash~!" He rushed to my side. "You said we couldn't die here," I said as I pointed to the collection of children heads behind the creature's seat.

Ash was stunned, "I don't know what to tell you Dawn."

I was pretty sure I went completely white. I was brought to a whole new level of scared.

Ash hugged me, brought his lips to my ear and whispered, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you." I nodded my head in response. I'll admit I did feel a lot safer with Ash's presence.

Ash then let go of me and walked past me to something that hung on the wall.

"What is it?"

"A map of some sort."

I walked to his side to examine it with him. "I don't understand," I said giving up after a few minutes and walked over to the table.

"Hey Ash, didn't you say we don't have to eat here to survive?"

"Yeah," he said as he approached me.

"Then why is there a table filled with food? And more importantly, why does his plate have eyes of it?"

"Maybe that's how he gets the kids distracted? Maybe he eats eyes?"

I wasn't convinced.

"Hey, let's make a toast," I said taking two grapes from the massive plate of grapes and handed one to Ash.

"For what?"

I held up my grape, "To heading _this_ far."

He smiled and pressed his grape lightly against mine. "To heading this far." We then both pop the grapes into our mouths.

Not even a second later, we heard scratches. We both turned to face the creature at the head of the table. Its hands were lifting slowly until it put them over the pair of eyes in the plate in front of it. It then forces the eyeballs into its palms.

We just stood there not knowing what our next move was.

It swirled its hands on the plate. A few seconds later, it slowly lifted its hands to its head where the eyes were supposed to be, the palm of its hands facing us.

There were slits on his hands, that was how the eyeballs got in.

Ash and I were staring at it while it was staring back. For a few seconds none of us moved, and then it stood,

And yelled,

And started to walk towards us.

Fuck.

"RUN!"

* * *

><p><strong>Penny for your thoughts?<strong>

**I'm sorry if there are tense mistakes, I'm currently writing a present tense fic and switching back to past tense is surprisingly _ really_ hard.**

**I finally added a Pan's Labyrinth character :D!**

**I honestly have no idea when my next update will be but I'm pretty sure it won't take me four months this time. Again, sorry for the lack of update. **

**Also, yes I had to cliffhangger it, the next lines of Get Out Alive are the same as the ones on top. "If you want to get out alive, run for your life" THEY MUST BE RUNNIN' **

**LOL, till next time :]**

**Keep reading & Review, I'll give you all big bear cyber hugs for staying with me! ^^  
>PorcelainDollxx <strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**Hi everyone! **

**Before heading on and reading down below I should tell you that there isn't a lot of gore in this chapter. I haven't done a chapter with psych people yet so I have decided to do that for this chapter! I hope you guys still like it :).**

**DISCLAIMER! I do not own the characters!  
>Enjoy :D!<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven<p>

+ _If you want to_

_Get out alive+_

_+ Run for your life_

"Run!" I shouted as Ash and I darted out of the room.

It extended out its hand and chased after us. We tried to lose it, but it knew which corner we turned and which way we went. And even though we're running and it was walking with difficulty, it still caught up to us.

"What is that thing?" I yelled as I jogged to a stop; I was out of breath.

Before Ash could open his mouth to answer my pending question, we saw the creature down the hallway which we stood.

"Fuck!" Ash said breathlessly as we both sprinted away from it.

"How does it know where we are?" I asked in panic.

"I don't know," Ash answered back.

"A door!" I said happily, "maybe he won't be able to get it."

He stopped in his tracks. "You seriously want to go through _another_ door? Did you forget about the other two doors we opened? Do you want to go through _that_ again?"

"Well yeah," I said as I jogged down to a stop once more, "Nothing can be worse than dealing with psychic-teleportation thing over here." I point to the seemingly unbalanced thing following us.

He sighs in defeat, "fine, you win."

We made a dash for the door and when we opened it we slammed it shut; our backs pressed against the door. The place was black; I couldn't even see Ash who was an inch away from me.

"Ash?" I whispered.

A yell came from behind the door and then a bang.

I was pretty sure of who was banging on the door.

Eventually it stopped. I looked towards the general directed of where I thought Ash would be. I didn't know whether to open the door to possibly face the horror behind us, or walk blindly into the horror that awaits us.

Suddenly, we heard something, we both reacted by extending our hand out to each other making sure we were both still next to each other.

That's when I heard heavy breathing; as if someone or something were two inches away from my face.

"Ash, stop that!" I said in an annoyed tone even though I only assumed it was Ash.

"I'm not doing anything Dawn," he said in an equally annoyed tone.

The next thing I know, I heard creaking floorboards in the distance. With a hand on Ash, I knew it wasn't him. We definitely weren't alone; we weren't the only ones in this room.

"Dawn, we need to find light or a light switch, this is dangerous," he whispered in alert.

I nodded even though I knew he couldn't see me. "Right."

I started touching the walls and swatting at the air above me for a string switch.

Suddenly the room illuminated.

Ash found it first.

What came to my surprise was that nobody was there. There was only Ash and I; in person anyway, because at least one hundred eyes were staring back at us.

The room had an eerie silence which made the pictures feel even more haunting.

We had stepped into a darkroom.

There were so many faces staring back at us.

I walked closer to Ash who was just standing in the middle of the room just under the string switch.

"NO! YOU RUINED THEM!"

Ash and I turned around to see a little boy about ten years old. The boy had brown spiky hair, and wore normal attire. The creepiest thing about him was that his eyes had no pupils.

He looked around frantically. "Where are they?"

Ash and I looked at each other confused. "Where is what?" Ash asked.

"The souls! You lost them when you opened the light!" he concluded.

He screams in rage. "You're going to pay!"

"Wait!" Ash said, as he put his hands out towards the boy, "what are you _talking_ about!"

The boy grinned at us. "Don't you know?" he started, "when you take a picture of someone, you steal their souls. I had collected an army worth! Look at these people; these pathetic use for beings," he said as he pointed to his pictures that were either hung on strings or plastered on walls, "all worthless! All begged for me not to do it. FOOLS!"

I looked up at the pictures; all of the people in them looked distressed. They knew that something bad was going to happen to them, their eyes were all wide. Most were screaming at the time, some were reaching for the lens. They all realized their fate. But I didn't understand. Camera's didn't capture people's souls…

"Camera's don't steal souls, Ash," I said in a hushed voice so that the boy wouldn't hear me.

"I know," he said simply.

"And _you_," he yelled pointing to Ash, "you destroyed their souls! Now I have to start over!" He looked at us with a smirk across his face.

"YOU'RE NEXT!"

"Let's go!" Ash demanded as he took my hand and made a run for it.

Left, right, left, right, straight, left, door!

We shut ourselves in.

We didn't expect what we saw in front of us though.

A simple little girl's room.

"Finally, somewhere normal," I said in relief. Ash however, was keeping his guard up.

"Welcome!" said the voice of a cheery little girl.

We turned the corner and she finally came to sight. I regret speaking so soon.

On the wall in front of the girl a collection of girl heads were hung by their hair.

The girl was sitting in front of her vanity mirror brushing her long blonde hair.

"Like my wall ornaments? Collected them myself," she boasted.

"Why?" I asked.

"They were prettier than me. I couldn't allow people who surpassed my beauty to still roam freely now could I?"

"No, I guess not," I said nervously looking at Ash who returned the gaze.

She hadn't looked at us since we got into her room.

She moved slightly and I saw a girl head on her table top.

"Hey… what's that in front of you?" asked Ash.

"Oh these?" she said moving away from the heads while still looking at herself in the mirror.

There lay three heads; two brunettes and a blonde.

"This one," she said pointing to the brunette, "was my best friend, but then one summer when she came back from vacation she looked _really_ good; _better_ than I have ever. When I told her to change back she refused as everyone was taking more notice to her. I couldn't have that, so I pushed her down a thirty step marble staircase. She hit her head so many times it landed her in concussion. She never woke up though."

_Smash!_

She took a hammer from her table and smashed her best friend's head in.

And that's when I got scared of this girl.

"This one," she said pointing her hammer at the second brunette, "was the most popular girl in my school. Everyone thought she was _so_ pretty. I was prettier though, but she brainwashed the whole school into thinking she was better. How could I not keep from eliminating her?"

She then lifted her hammer and smashed the brunette's head.

It's a wonder how I didn't throw up due to the scene the little girl was causing. The skull being smashed contorted the face and the brain still in there seeping through the cracks and openings… it was all too much.

"And this one," she said pointing the hammer to the blonde, "was my sister. Crissy was her name. Everyone liked _her_ more," she said, her voice getting louder, "she was better than me at everything! She _had _to go!" she yelled as she smashed her sister's head three times violently.

I grabbed onto Ash's shirt. Hiding behind him; using him as a shield.

"It's okay," Ash whispered as he brought, and then held me to his side.

The girl finally turned around. I found her actually really pretty; her skin was flawless while her eyes were an emerald green.

As soon as she saw us, her face dropped.

"How dare you stand there hearing the stories of my trophies while you're standing there looking all _pretty_!"

"What are you talking about?" I questioned her.

"You look better than me!" she yelled.

"What? No, you're definitely _a lot_ prettier than me."

She shoots me an evil grin. "Oh, flattery won't get you anywhere. Only my eyes tell the truth."

She lifted the hammer and chased after us. We sprinted out of that room as fast as we could, but she kept up.

"Bitch is crazy!" I said while panting for breath. But nothing would have made me slow down. Ash seemed to be in more shape than I was, he wasn't breaking a sweat.

Left, right, straight, straight, right.

"A door!" Ash and I said in unison.

We pushed it and it opened with ease as we realized we found the outside of the house.

"Finally!" Ash yelled.

I looked back and the girl was nowhere to be found.

We finally took a breather. Ash went up to the door to close it.

"Ash? What was that! You said we couldn't die here!"

Ash looked at me intently for a moment before he spoke. "Remember when we were in the children-eating creature's room and we found a map? Dawn, it was the way out, but not by the labyrinth. My theory is that they kill them outside the labyrinth and then take them back to do whatever they want, as dark as that is."

I looked away. "That's actually a really good guess."

We both stood in silence for a few moments.

"Should we get going?" I asked. Ash simply nodded his head before we walking into the familiar darkness again.

* * *

><p><strong>Hi again! :D<strong>

**How did you like this chapter? I'll admit it wasn't as creepy as the rest were but it wasn't what I was going for. I volunteer at a hospital and some of the psych patients make me feel really uncomfortable that's where I got the idea.**

**Alright. Next chapter will probably take a little longer to write only because I'm being brave by writing up my idea :P I am incorporating one of my biggest fears in the next chapter, so visualizing it in order to write it down will take guts. Wanna take a guess as who/what will appear in the next chapter?**

**GO FOR IT, then tell me :).**

**Also, it might take longer to update because on top of volunteering, going on vacation, working on two other stories, and working part-time, I'm also joining kick boxing next week, therefore, sorry if the updates are slower -.- , but I'll try my best under the circumstances!**

**You guys are awesome for sticking with me even though my updates aren't as fast as one would hope they are. I cyber hug all you guys :D**

**Keep reading & review :D, cyber hugs are offered :D!  
>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I feel really bad that I made you all wait this long but this is a really important chapter in the story so pay attention as you read! That being said I didn't want to mess it up. I can't tell you _what_ made me take so long because that would give away a lot, sorry.

Special thanks of course to my best friend Jeremy who helped me _so much _with this chapter!

Anyway, enjoy your read :).

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight<p>

+ This is my last time

She said +

+ As she faded away

We were back in the twisted thorns on steroids part of the labyrinth. We have been in here for three days so far. Ash knew, he kept this small pocketbook and marked down when the days end, he had it since he got here and he hasn't missed a day.

Left, right, right, straight, left.

It's usually quiet between Ash and I when we're just walking; other than the random screams and the ground crunching under our feet or other people's but I don't flinch anymore at the sounds, it would seem odd if there weren't those sounds. That is bothering, the _normalcy_ of it all. Regardless, I don't mind the silence between us; even though Ash isn't the most social person I've met, I'm glad to be travelling the labyrinth with him.

A scream was then heard coming from the path before us, and then rushed footsteps.

"Get away!" a girl screamed. She looked about our age. When she approached us, she yelled, "choose another path, go somewhere else!" And then she ran away.

"Psycho or real?" Ash asked me.

"I've been here long enough to say psycho," I said as I continued walking. Ash followed.

When we walked further down the path, we came to a fork in the road.

"Footsteps in the distance, I wonder who?" we heard a high pitched voice say. Ash and I both looked at each other with a raised eyebrow.

We followed where the voice was coming from and that's when we heard movement from a distance. We stopped for a bit to hear if it came closer, but it didn't. We heard constant movement, but it seemed to be staying in one place. I made a frown in confusion.

When we turned the corner, we saw it. He had pointy yellow teeth, his skin was porcelain, and he had vibrant orange hair. One inch around his lips were bright red. He wore a blood red onesie pyjama with large black polka dots. The shoes he wore were shiny, black, and pointed upwards. He was sitting on a wooden rocking chair that was rocking back and forth. His head was cocked to the side lazily, his smile was unnaturally huge, and his eyes were a glowing emerald green and wide open.

"Ah," he laughed hysterically with a high pitched voice, "I shall name you victims one and two."

Ash and I walked closer to him.

"Who are you?" I asked the slouched porcelain clown.

"It's not who, but what I am. I'm tortured, I'm evil, yet I am your greatest fan."

"Okay~," I said, not knowing how exactly to respond to him.

He laughed his hysterical high pitched laugh again. "I could tell you things; I'm knowledgeable, I'm wise, and what she doesn't know is that I'm her greatest of spies."

My curiosity got the best of me. "Who is this 'she' you're referring to?"

His smile got wider, showing off more of his pointy yellow teeth and his frown deepen. His smile was definitely evil.

"Why the labyrinth, don't you see. She's coming after you, but no longer for me. For she fears you, but soon it will fade, because like everyone here, you're being played. To her, you know, this is all a big game. She always wins, but you could make that change. Unless of course, like me, you lose your way," he closed his eyes and sighed, "although, I'm just a clown, so who am I to say."

Ash and I looked at each other. That's when I heard movement from the clown's general direction.

"What are you- Whoa! What are you doing?" Ash asked.

The clown got off of his rocking chair and turned away from us.

"You won't remember me when she's done with you. But goodbye for now, victims one and two," he said, as he walked away from us, laughing.

"Wait! Come back here!" I called after him.

Ash made a run for him and I followed, but when we turned the corner it was gone, and all we heard was the sound of his laugh.

* * *

><p>"I don't get it, was he good or evil?" I asked Ash, referring to the clown.<p>

"I don't know. What got me though, was that he was speaking about the labyrinth that it was alive. I mean, I know it "helps" you by keeping you alive, but the way the clown talks about it… it's like it's evil."

I frown and put two fingers of each hand on my temples. "This is confusing."

"Yeah."

* * *

><p>Ash and I kept walking. At the moment, it was so dark that we could just barely see each other, and we were a foot away. So we held hands to make sure we didn't lose each other in the darkness.<p>

"Ash, this is crazy, when did it get so ridiculously dark?"

"I don't know," he said simply.

I stopped and Ash did the same. "What's wrong?"

"This is crazy, we don't even know where we are," I said.

Ash chuckled a little, "it isn't called a labyrinth for nothing."

I smiled even though Ash probably couldn't see me.

"Come on," he continued, "we'll be okay. And hopefully, some light will shed on us."

Puny

We kept walking for what seemed like hours, when we finally found light in the distance.

I don't remember walking into a cave.

When we walked back into the light, I looked behind us. There wasn't a cave, it was only pitch black. It didn't make sense, but honestly, what did?

We walked for a while longer till we came across the same blonde haired girl I met at the beginning of my journey in the labyrinth. Back then, she was crying over a doll she claimed was evil.

"Hey there!" I said in a cheerful voice. In the corner of my eye, I saw Ash looking at me weirdly.

The little girl raised her eyebrow. "Who are you?"

"Don't you remember me? I was there when you were crying over the porcelain doll-"

All of a sudden, she made a horrid scream that took Ash and I by surprise.

"Lady," she said in an upset tone as she pointed her finger at me, "I _don't_ know who you are and I've _never_ seen you in my life!"

I was taken aback. "What do you mean you've never seen me? I helped you when you cracked your doll-"

"Stop it!" she screamed, "I never had a doll!"

I did a second take. I was 101% sure it was the same girl. Except with a few minor differences, such as extra scratches and bruises, it was without a doubt the same girl. Her hair was blonde, long, and still in two pigtails, and she still wore the fuchsia dress with the matching Mary Jane's.

I made a frown.

"Dawn, what are you talking about?" Ash asked me.

"Right before we started travelling together, I met this little girl. She was crying and really upset. She sent her headless horsemen after me. Ash, you saved me from _this_ girl," I whispered to him.

"Dawn," he whispered back, "not that I don't believe you, but look at her, she honestly doesn't know who you are."

I did, and he was right.

"But I… whatever, forget it, let's just go," I said as I walked past this girl.

I'm surrounded by truly insane people.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry it's shorter than what was probably expected. :/ Even though it's short, again, it's important.

Out of curiosity though, what do you think? Is the clown legit or has he lost his mind? By the way, yes, I am terribly afraid of porcelain clowns.

Alright, next chapter won't take me so many months to complete, so look forward to it :)

Keep Reading & Review for cyber hugs (- ")-(" -)  
><strong>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

_+ It's hard to imagine_

_But one day +_

_+ You'll end up like me_

I guess the darkness isn't as bad when you're in it for what felt like hours. Not that it's comfortable or anything, but I just have other stuff on my mind; so I could care less about the darkness.

That girl

What's up with her? She knows me! I _met_ her! I can't believe the labyrinth made such an innocent girl so damn messed up in the head. It's starting to make me believe what the porcelain clown told us; how the labyrinth is an evil living thing intended to make us go crazy. And I'll admit the thought is tempting. It's hard to keep it together when you're surrounded by nothing but insanity.

Finally, there was light shed on us, literally.

This part of the labyrinth was made from stone, and it looked like a normal labyrinth one would go into for the fun of it. After walking about a few more hours, I saw a carving on one of the stones that held the wall.

"Hey Ash!" I pointed out the Christmas tree-like carving on the stone, "I think someone missed Christmas and wanted to celebrate."

Ash smiled, agreeing with me. "Not a bad thing. Maybe I'm not the only crazy one that keeps track of the days."

I smirked at him. "Shut up Ash, you aren't crazy. You're actually incredibly sane, especially for someone who stayed here for five years." I looked down, "Do you ever miss your family?"

A small pause. "Every day."

"Me too."

After that was kind of an awkward silence but we kept it that way as we walked away from the Christmas tree. What was fearful was that we weren't the only ones that were quiet, so was the rest of the labyrinth. The only sound was Ash and I's footsteps on the dirt road.

This was an alarming silence.

I stopped walking. Ash did the same a few steps after and turned to look at me. "What's up?"

I made a frown, I wasn't even sure myself. Something just didn't seem right.

"I don't know," I said as I dismissed it. Maybe it was just the unsettling silence.

I just resumed walking in the direction we were currently going.

* * *

><p>It felt like <em>hours.<em>

All we knew what that we were lost with no sense of direction. Everything just looked the same. I was starting to get frustrated, so I plopped down against a stone wall and put my head down leaning it against my knees.

"You okay?" Ash asked.

I chuckled darkly, "no."

"Don't worry about it Dawn. We've made it through every other part of the labyrinth. This one is just like the others. We'll get out of here," he said encouragingly.

I lifted my head to look at him, "Thanks Ash-"

I barely made it through Ash's name when I saw something at the corner of my eye. When I looked at it, I went stiff in shock.

In the stone across from us was a carving- the _same _carving of the Christmas tree we saw a while back.

I wanted to cry.

Ash had a confused look on his face when he saw how quickly my facial expression changed. He turned around to see what I was looking at. His eyes grew wide as well.

"Shit…" he said in a voice so low I could barely hear it.

"Ash," I started. He turned to face me, "we're never going to get out of here, are we? We've been walking for seemingly hours and we're back at the beginning. The thought of losing my mind seems like a really good idea right about now." The crazy thing was that I dangerously meant every word.

Ash just looked taken aback about what I had just said. He didn't say anything about it though. He turned around and said, "Let's keep moving. We're sitting ducks here."

If I didn't see his reaction to my words, I would have thought he ignored me completely. "Fine."

* * *

><p>When we came across an intersection of paths, Ash came to a sudden stop and collapsed.<p>

"Ash!" I cried as I ran to his side.

"It's okay Dawn," Ash said in a weak voice.

All I wanted to do was help but I had no idea what happened to him, so I just helped him to his feet.

Ash looked past me and his eyes were wide. "Dawn," he said nervously, which was very unlike him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, but I didn't need an answer. As I asked, I turned my head in the direction Ash was looking and he had every right to be afraid.

In the center of the intersection, there was a lady who –you could tell by her skin- looked like she was in her late sixties. She had salt and pepper messy hair that reached down a bit lower than her shoulders and she had thick bangs that were no longer than over her eyebrows. She wore a dress but it was barely put together with all the holes and shreds that were through it. She had no shoes, no eyes, and no jaw. Her skin from her upper lip had healed and connected to the skin on her neck. But even with no eyes, you could tell that she was looking at us. Her arms that fell limp to her sides were shifting a bit.

"Come on, Ash," I whispered in his ear, "We have to run. _Now_."

Ash made a slow nod.

We made small movements as we turned around and walked away from the lady. When I looked back, she was still in the same place we left her.

* * *

><p>Finally, we had to take a break. Ash was getting weaker and weaker by the minutes and I had no idea of how to help him.<p>

We both sat down on a stone that was conveniently against the wall. Ash's back was against the wall, while I was sitting more forward.

"Are you okay, Ash?" I asked him. I was getting really worried about him, and it didn't help that I had no idea what had happened to him.

"Yeah, don't worry Dawn. I just need some rest."

I gave him a wary look. Something was definitely wrong; he just didn't want to worry me.

After that, there was an eerie silence. That's when I heard it.

Shuffling

As if someone was dragging their feet against the dirt road.

I stood up.

"What's up, Dawn?"

"I hear something." We both stayed silent but I didn't hear anything that time.

"Ash, stay here, I'm going to look around."

"What?!" Ash yelled in protest, "this is a labyrinth Dawn, you can't just go wondering around on your own."

"No need to worry, I won't go far," I said as I walked to my left.

"Dawn! Get back here!" Ash cried out. I ignored him though; he was too weak to do anything about it anyway.

I walked in a straight line and turned right at a dead end. Everything was too quiet, it didn't make sense. In every other part of the labyrinth, there was always someone screaming. The only thing I could have guessed was that either everyone here is "dead" or we are really the only ones here.

While I was in thought, I heard the ground crunch behind me. I stood frozen in my tracks. There was someone –or something- behind me, and I was too afraid to face it. Unfortunately I had too; if I kept going, I could have really lost my way.

I turn around, it got really dark, but to my knowledge, I was losing it and hearing things because there was no one behind me. I decided to walk back to find Ash, I felt a lot safer around him.

As I started walking back to where I left Ash, I heard the ground once again crunch behind me.

_I know I'm not losing it._

I spun around, then left scared.

She's back.

"Ok~…" I said as I started walking backwards, "sorry I bumped into you again, I didn't know you were going this way also."

Her eyebrows furrowed together. I somehow knew it wasn't in confusion. So I turned around and made a sprint in Ash's direction.

"ASH~!"

Ash jumped, startled by my outburst.

"Dawn, what's wrong?" he asked in a worried tone.

"Crazy should-be-dead lady is back. I don't know what she wants, but I'm 99% sure she's following me! Ash, we need to start walking!"

Ash nodded his head as he slowly got up.

"Come on, Ash!" I said. I knew he wasn't feeling well, but I couldn't let us be caught by the –thing.

He put his arm around my shoulder for support and we walked together –slowly.

We were never going to get away from her.

"Come on, Ash. I know you could do it!" I encouraged. _You need to._

I turned my head around and there she was –staring at us. She didn't start walking in our direction though. She just stood there; motionless.

That scared me more than anything.

"We could do this, Ash. We could get through this. I need you too if we want to get out of here…"

"We turned a corner and I decided to take a small break –very small. So I leaned against the stone wall –and then fell through.

"Dawn!" Ash said, running in after me, and then crashing into me.

"What's up with –" I cut him off cupping my hand over his mouth.

We were in some kind of secret hideout. It was small dark room; the only source of light came from the wall we just came through. We could see perfectly outside. We could still see the wall though, but it's faded and transparent.

"I don't understand this and neither do you, but we could just hide out here for a while –at least till you get your strength back," I whispered softly to him.

He nodded slowly. Even though our hiding place was fairly small, one could sit up and still have enough leg space.

He sat closer to the entrance of our hiding spot and I sat closer to the wall behind us.

Ash looked like he was ready to pass out. I can't remember the last time we slept. "Maybe we should take advantage of the situation; let's sleep for a bit."

Ash glared at me. Clearly, he didn't agree.

"Come on," I persisted, "we've earned some rest. Besides, no one could see us-"

This time, it was Ash who put his hand over my mouth. It was now my turn to glare at him. Ash put a finger over his mouth, silencing me.

That's when I heard dragged footsteps again.

About an agonizing five minutes later, we finally saw the lady who had been following us. We walked slowly, continuing on the path before us.

I held my breath almost the entire time as she walked obliviously past us; especially when she turned in our direction, stopped, then finally continued walking.

We both let out a breath as soon as she was out of sight.

"_Now_ can we relax?" I asked Ash.

He closed his eyes before answering. "Fine," he said while he rubbed his temples. I smiled at his, Ash could be paranoid sometimes.

We both eventually fell asleep. For how long, I wasn't sure. When I woke up though, I woke up to _her_ face.

She was looking down at us from outside the entrance. She either knew we were there, or she was just resting her head on the stones, I'm willing to bet it's the former.

Crap

I put my hand over Ash's mouth and shake him awake. He woke up slowly, thankfully.

"Oh, fuck!" I heard him say from under my hand which managed to muffle the volume of said comment.

"What do we do?" I whispered in his ear as I took my hand away from his mouth.

He shook, then lowered his head, his eyes were in constant motion.

"We take her out," he whispered back.

"What!?" I silently mouthed.

He didn't reply, he just continued to look at me. I could see it in his eyes though, he was dead serious.

I shrugged my shoulders in defeat.

Ash stood up as best as he could, since the space we were in wasn't very tall. I stood next to him.

"I'll tackle her to the other wall and you run out of here. Run to your left and continue straight. I'll sprint after you," Ash whispered into my ear.

I was not okay with leaving him alone. "How about, I run out of here, and then wait for you?" I counter offered, "I'm not okay with leaving you alone."

"Fine, let's just get out of here," he said, and without second thought, he ran into the lady and slammed her against the wall.

"Run!" he called, I ran and he followed out of the mess.

* * *

><p>We ran until we no longer had the stamina to run anymore.<p>

"We better… have… lost her," I said between heavy breaths.

"I… don't think… she'll catch up to us… she can't… run," Ash replied.

We started walking slowly until we reached normal walking speed again.

"Hey, you're feeling better," I commented.

"Yeah, guess I really did need that rest after all," he said with a smile.

We kept walking a little more and that's when I heard something.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

I made a frown. That tune; it sounded familiar.

_Hmmm…hmmm…hmhmmm…hm._

"Let's follow that sound," I said. I didn't wait for an answer as I jogged toward it.

Until I stopped, because I saw _him_.

Oh God.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's<strong> **Note: **Sorry about the wait for this chapter! I knew what I wanted for this chapter- that's why I didn't think it'd take me long to write it, but I had no idea how to execute it. But today I wrote almost all day until I got it done :).

I also want to apologize in advance because the next chapter will take a while to put up (I hope not, but it probably will be). **LET ME EXPLAIN!** I'm applying into a nursing program at 3 different colleges. They all want letters of intents, and beautiful grades. The deadline is March 1st, so from now until then I won't have much time for my fictions :(. So I'll start writing again when I submitted everything to these colleges, but know that I have two other fictions to update before this one. So again, I'll say sorry in advanced. Even though, let's face it, I don't update very often :(.

Anyway- for those of you who are still with me, **you are awesome**!

Keep reading & cyber hugs are offered for those of you who review :D!  
><strong>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

+ Then she said

If you want to get out alive +

+ Run for your life

It was weird how characters of the past kept being brought up. First the girl, now this – I don't even know how _I_ got this far, let alone them, and then to run into them _again_. This is a labyrinth, what are the chances that the two people you meet on your first day are the people you bump into again? Unless something or someone is placing them in my path purposely, it's just too much coincidence.

The man was rather far from us, but there was no doubt about it, he was the same one; bald, with the green sweater rocking back and forth while humming that creepy tune.

_Hmm…hmm…hmhmm…hm._

But when we approached him, I realized it was no longer hums that escaped his mouth, but they had words this time.

The closer we got, the clearer the words were.

_I've lost my protect-tion  
>Death can't save~ me<br>What is there to live~ for  
>What is there to live~ for<em>

I made a frown in confusion before I turned to Ash who had the same confused expression I had.

He kept on repeating the same song while we approached him. I didn't understand. _What_ protection?

He didn't realize that we had gotten closer; he didn't realize that we were there at all. He just kept on rocking back and forth…

_I've lost my protect-tion  
>Death can't save~ me<br>What is there to live~ for  
>What is there to live~ for<em>

"Excuse me? Sir?" I asked as I tapped his shoulder. He sharply turned his head to look at me, he still had no iris'; his eyes were completely white. And then he yelled.

_I'VE LOST MY PROTECTION!  
>DEATH CAN'T SAVE ME!<br>WHAT IS THERE TO LIVE FOR!?  
>WHAT IS THERE TO LIVE FOR!?<em>

His eyes were on me the whole time he was yelling. I then saw his eyes shift to where Ash was standing. His eyes suddenly grew wider. "You… you-" he said as he pointed his finger at me, "You-" his eyes went black, "YOU!" he shrieked as he grabbed on to my arm.

"Dawn, look out!" Ash yelled as he grabbed my free arm and yanked me out of the man's grasp. Unfortunately, his grip was tight, so when Ash pulled me out, we fell on the ground. "We need to get out of here," he said instantly, "now." He knew something I didn't. We ran for it.

"GET BACK HERE! I HATE YOU!" he yelled as he too got on his feet and ran for us. "It's not fair! Why do you get to keep it?!" he whined.

I was scared; I had no idea what he wanted. I couldn't believe someone who was so timid before could turn out to be in such a rage.

He yelled out to "come back" and how much he "hated me" some more while we ran.

As soon as I looked back to see him, he stopped. He was a good twenty feet away so I stopped as well to catch my breath and continued to look at him. He was glaring at me. All of a sudden, he yelled a cry that definitely wasn't human and his skin ripped apart. It looked so painful. My eyes widen in shock. He somehow transformed into a bone-y sort of animal. He grew taller and he stood on two legs. His feet grew into paws of sort and his hands were longer and a lot skinnier. You could see his rib cage, and his stomach was sunk in. His skin was now gray and he howled very loudly. Did he just turn into a werewolf?

"Shit!" I was now terrified, I know that these things can run fast. Ash grabbed my hand and pulled me to run. I was in so much shock I'm pretty sure my legs were thinking for themselves.

"In here," Ash said as he pushed me into a small opening in the wall. I wasn't as perceptive as Ash was, I didn't know what he was talking about until the last minute, so hopefully the werewolf wouldn't notice it either.

What I didn't expect was the gap to be longer than just a small space. So my only option was to continue walking away from the scene, away from the monster.

The space finally got larger and it was easier to walk through; instead of being squeezed against the wall, we could walk through it comfortably. Ash was right behind me, following me and at the same time making sure we weren't followed by any unwelcomed guests.

Then there was a blood curdling scream coming from ahead, and it ended with a bang, literally.

I looked back at Ash. "Keep walking," he told me, "we can't turn back now." I nodded. I trusted Ash with my life; I knew he wouldn't get us purposefully in trouble. And he's the only sane person left. Probably anyways.

We continued walking and it was dead silent which was uncomfortable to say the least. There is always something going on, so when nothing is happening, it was already or it is going to, and judging by that scream, something had just happened and I wasn't prepared for the outcome.

We continued walking through the narrow path for longer till we came to the end of the tunnel and all there was, was a wooden door.

"Should we open it?" I asked. We didn't have good luck with doors.

Ash just shrugged. "I mean, would you rather take your chances with the werewolf?" he asked rhetorically. I shook my head and opened the door.

A small gasp escaped my lips. It was another death hall, except it was exceptionally smaller than the other one. There were only three people in this one. All three bodies lay limp; there were two boys and one girl. The girl was bleeding significantly, especially from the mouth and her eyes were wide open as she stared at the ground. There was a knife penetrated into her chest.

"Oh my God," I said.

All of a sudden, the knife pulled out and made a clank as it fell to the floor and reeled its way back to the catapult.

It was then that one of the boys awoke from unconsciousness. His eyes fluttered open. "Am… am I dead?" he asked no one in particular.

I looked at Ash. "No."

"What do you mean "no"?! I've been trying for _months_!"

"Why?"

"I've been here for _so long_, and still I can't find my way out."

"And that's a good enough reason?" I asked, confused.

"You don't understand. This place is fucking mad. It messes with your brain."

"But you _know_ that."

"And I want out. I'll do whatever it takes. Maybe this time it'll work."

"Come on, you don't-"

"SHOOT!" he yelled loudly.

"DAWN!" Ash yelled as he ran into me to push me out way as I was in the middle of the weapon and its target.

We both hit the floor with a thud just as the spiked cannon hit the boy in the chest. He didn't scream. He went limp right away.

I looked at him with an experienced eye this time. It was hard but I had to get over it. "Come on, let's go," I said as I got up and walked toward the exit.

It wasn't an exit though, because the tunnel then split into two separate paths.

Ash rubbed his temples.

"What did you expect, Ash? This is a labyrinth."

"It doesn't undermine the fact that it gets annoying. Even the cracks in the walls are mazes, this is really fucked up."

I didn't disagree with him. He's been stuck in this place for over five years. When all you see is choices and your brain has to constantly be working to think ahead, it has got to be tiring and definitely frustrating.

I put my hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture.

"Come on, let's go."

We took the path to our left hoping it would get us out of here.

So far, there was no light at the end of the tunnel and it was incredibly annoying.

We walked a while longer till we smelled an awful gag-worthy smell; the smell of decay. I made my hands useful by making them a shield for my nose and mouth. And noticed Ash did the same.

We continued though, hoping this was just a passing thing.

The tunnel suddenly took a sharp turn and there were ten bodies that lay limp on the floor; bloody and cut up. There was a man dressed in silver who looked like he was preforming surgery; he had a knife in his hand with some man lying on the table before him. He was strapped and his mouth was tapped over, but it didn't stop him from making a noise that admitted he was scared.

The silver man was so focused on what he was doing before him that he didn't even notice Ash and I walk in.

I became metaphorically winded when I realized that there were many hearts pinned up behind him which had to be the source for the smell. I brought a hand to my lips and let out a small gasp.

Oh, he saw us now.

But for some reason, he just blinked and when back to cutting up the man.

Ash and I looked at each other. Well, if he doesn't care for us, might as well find out what he's doing.

Ash beat me to it though. "What are you doing?" he asked rather harshly.

"Collecting the hearts," he said eagerly. He sounded like he had 40 cups of coffee.

"You already have quite the collection," he replied, though, it sounded more like a question.

"No! I need more! It isn't enough. What if I run out?" He had yet to glance away from the man he was cutting open. He succeeded in cutting a square like shape in the skin over his heart. He yanked the skin off and when he found the heart, he yanked that out too. The man finally fell limp and the pleads stopped.

The man in silver took a nail, held the heart to the wall, and harshly stabbed it in place. "There!" he turned around and rested his arms on the limp man. "Now I have to wait till one of them wakes up again fully energized with a newly functional heart," he said with glee. He then lifted his head looking at us, and he stared at us for about three minutes straight. "Or I don't have to," he said with a smirk and an evil look in his eyes. He then whipped his knife toward us.

Shit, we should _not_ have stuck around.

Ash and I ran for our lives to put as much distance between us and the psycho heart guy as we could.

We took the other path and ran until we were no longer in the wall.

"Oh my God, what just happened?" Ash asked as he ran his fingers nervously through his hair when we abruptly stopped.

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know!" I said still freaking out as I dropped to my knees on the ground. No one ever came after us with a weapon before.

"Oh but I do," a familiar high pitched voice behind us said, "Welcome back, victims one and two."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Yay! I'm finally done this chapter! I hoped to finish sooner, but things just kept getting in the way. :/

We are at the half-way point ladies and gents. There are ten more chapters left of this story! I can't wait to write them out.

Tell me what you think! :)

Keep reading & Review for cyber hugs :D  
><strong>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

_+ If you want to_

_Get out alive+_

_+Run for your life_

"What are you talking about? How could you possibly know what just happened to us?" Ash asked the porcelain clown, the bitterness in his voice definitely did not go unnoticed. I had the feeling it was the stress talking, not Ash.

"Ash~" I said with a hint of warning in my voice.

The clown ignored his outburst though. "Beware for the time you spend in the labyrinth walls, you'll see that this is the place where darkness crawls," he began as he switched his glare from myself to Ash and then back again. My eyes grew wide in remembrance as he continued, "Inside this little game, you'll see that people are not the same. Try to find your way to the other side; try to make it without losing your mind. If you want to play, go in if you dare. But something you should remember is always beware."

"That… was the warning," I said, shocked that he remembered it.

"Yes, it was mine, I wrote that. I was preparing everyone for combat! Of course, not everyone was quite right; most of them wouldn't even put up a fight."

"What are you talking about? It was only a warning. It said nothing about a fight."

The clown ignored me as he continued, "The people who thought it was a joke all ended up in smoke. I was serious, dead serious I was, even if it was a fight, it was for a good cause. This place is mad, mad I say, and nobody chooses to meet me half way," he paused before he started up again as he glared viciously at us, "They all chose instead to play the game, and now they should all hang their head in shame. And when they can't handle it anymore, I know they've lost the war. But they have something to help them, you see. It's easier that way, don't you agree. Because of this, the labyrinth puts up a fight. The consequence? Nobody can see the end light."

Ash made a frown. "What help? I'd love to get some help! I've been stuck in this fucked up place for _five years_!"

The clown looked at Ash, then back to me, then once more back to Ash, and then proceeded to laugh hysterically.

I looked at Ash, and he looked back at me with a 'don't ask' expression on his face.

I decided to change the subject when he didn't stop laughing. "What you're describing sounds more like an inner war to me," I said, referring to his previous statement.

"'unless of course like me you lose your way', eventually, it happens to everyone anyway. Their minds are gone, then they realize their just a pawn. When they've finally lost all hope, they've also lost their ability to cope."

"But what about the help? There was a guy who kept saying that he lost all his protection."

The clown squinted, trying to think of a way to answer us. "They all know what they've lost, and they'll get revenge at all cost. But all that anger is misplaced, which is really just a waste." Cryptic as always.

"What do you mean their anger is misplaced?" This conversation started to jump around; it was all over the place and it was starting to annoy me.

"When they lose their hope, they go crazy, and then they all just become lazy. So instead of making things right, they put up a fight. Unfortunately, that's not the right way. But because of that, everyone else gets to pay."

I looked at the ground in thought; there seemed to be some hidden meaning behind what he just said. But before I got the chance to ask, a huge gust of wind almost knocked me off my feet.

The clown looked around the sky frantically. Then there was a loud high pitched, little girl laugh that echoed though the labyrinth.

At that moment, the clown looked almost terrified, but then his expression became angry. Thankfully, the wind had died down. Though, the clown's expression didn't falter. He looked at us, his eyes wide before speaking. "That's all I could tell you, goodbye for now victims one and two," he said as he sprinted away from us.

**xxx**

I knew better than to ask Ash the meaning behind all that was. But his character, the rhymes, the dodged answers he gave us… it just seemed like he was trying to tell us something that he doesn't want anyone knowing; but he's too cryptic, and I'm not smart enough.

When we rounded the corner, my head was still in the clouds, but Ash put an arm in front of me and I snapped out of it quickly as I stopped walking. When I turned to look at Ash, he had a finger to his lips silencing me. I made a frown and that's when he looked away from me to the front of us. I followed his gaze and my eyes landed upon a girl crouched down trying to stay hidden.

I decided to find out what was going on, so I approached the girl leaning against the hedge not to be noticed from whatever she was hiding from.

"Hey, are you-"

"Sh!"

I raised my hands to my side innocently as I mouthed 'okay' to her.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm trying to hide from this werewolf that has been chasing me." I turned to Ash who was directly behind me.

"A _werewolf_ was chasing you?" I repeated.

"That's what I said."

"It's probably the same werewolf that was chasing us," Ash deduced. I nodded my head in agreement.

"Guys-" the girl started, staring behind us with her eyes wide.

"What?" asked Ash, but we didn't need an answer.

There was a growl coming from behind us and we knew that the werewolf was dangerously behind us.

"Run!" the girl yelled as we sprinted away from the creature. The werewolf went after us and he was quickly catching up.

"Guys, we need to run faster!" I warned and we did. After about ten minutes of non-stop sprinting, I looked behind me and the wolf was no longer there.

"What?!"

"What's wrong Dawn-"

"It's like he just disappeared!" One moment he was chasing after us ready to kill and now he just vanished, it didn't make sense.

"I guess he just got tired of chasing us when he couldn't catch up," she said, nonchalantly.

I looked at Ash who was raising an eyebrow at the girl, but she only shrugged.

"I'm Elizabeth. What's your name?" she asked, clearly diverting the subject.

"I'm Ash, and this is my travelling partner, Dawn."

I finally got to really look at her. She had pin-straight long blonde hair, ice-blue eyes and flawless porcelain skin. She wore black shorts with an overly large sapphire sweater with zip-up pockets that were huge. How did I know that? Because she just took out a small porcelain doll out of her right pocket and hugged it.

I gave her a questioning look which she caught. "Everybody has someone to make them calm, right; someone to turn to when things get bad, someone to make them feel safe? Unfortunately for me, mine is a something, but it's the closest thing to a friend I have in this place," she paused for a moment as she looked away from me and averted her eyes to the ground, "it's the only thing that keeps me sane."

"I get it," Ash said almost immediately, "I mean, I've been in this place for a _long_ while and I'm glad I've had people travelling with me because it does get hard." Elizabeth nodded her head, agreeing with Ash.

"No matter," she said, "I've done it for like ten years, I could definitely do it for another ten."

"Or you'll end up in death hall like the rest of them crazy people. How about you just stay with us till you get annoyed with us?" I asked.

She laughed. "Sure, if it's alright with Ash?"

"Not a problem," he said with a smile.

"Great, so where to? I really don't want to get chased by anything," I commented.

"Alright, then let's go right," she said as she started walking with Ash and I trailing behind her.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I feel really bad that this is so late. And I also feel bad that it's this short. But the was supposed to be up like three weeks ago had my effing laptop not broke down on me. And I promise the next chapter will be longer. I had a small writers block on the second half of the chapter, and my best friend came up with an_ awesome_ idea, so I'm going through with it. Elizabeth will be in here for like... four-five chapters, depends how long I feel like writing for her I guess :P. (_psst, everything in this chapter had relevance_)

Also, I'd like to thank all of you that reviewed because you made this story hit the_ 100 review mark_ :D. YAY! Also, thanks to** BeingAnonymous** for being said 100th reviewer :).

That'd be all,

Keep reading & Review for hugs of the cyber variety :D  
><strong>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

+If you want to get out live  
>Run for your life+<br>+If you want to get out alive  
>Run for your life+<p>

It had been three days since Ash and I agreed to Elizabeth joining us on our quest to find the exit of the labyrinth. She stayed closer to Ash and didn't really speak with me much. I don't know whether to be annoyed or fine with that. I found it strange though, that during those three days, we didn't run into any monsters, nor did we hear people screaming- which didn't seem… normal. The only sound I've heard recently was the sounds of our voices, and I found that to be strangely unsettling.

The maze's design now was a thick forest, with the dirt roads as guidance; we couldn't see past the trees. My guess was that it was nighttime, because of how dark it was.

We ended up taking a right turn instead of going straight ahead and it brought us in a u-turn, then our only other option was to turn left. When we did, there was something wrong. The trees have gone white, as if they were mummified.

"Woah! What happened here?" asked Ash as he furrowed his eyebrows together. I couldn't answer him. The only thing I did understand from this, was that the labyrinth had something in store for us.

Elizabeth decided to approach the mummified trees with a slow step. While she inspected the trees, I saw a spider about the size of my foot crawl across the path. I kind of just stared at it while it crawled across the path. Yes, I was afraid of spiders, but it wasn't close enough for me to react to it.

I did find it interesting though, that spiders got that big. Where I'm from, they get only about as big as your thumb, max.

I refocused my attention on Elizabeth who had started getting up from her crouching position. "I don't know guys, it kind of looks like a web to me. But how can spiders live in this environment? It doesn't make sense."

I felt the need to look around. It could have very well been a spider, but knowing the craziness that the labyrinth has put before us in the past, I wouldn't put it past it to be something else. While scanning the area, I decided to look up and realized too soon afterwards how much of a mistake it had been; and how much trouble we could be in.

We were domed in by spider's web. And not only that, there were many spiders; big ones, sitting on their web, waiting to catch unsuspecting prey, or hanging on their strings.

"Uh, guys…"

They both turned towards me and I tried hard not to panic. I pointed my index finger subtly towards the sky. They both lifted their chins.

"Oh my God," Elizabeth said cupping her hand over her mouth. Ash's eyes widen in shock. So many daddy long legs hanging upside down, at least 20 times their original size, while spiders with bigger bodies were sitting on top of the webs or walking across them.

We all silently decided to, slowly, cautiously, get ourselves out of there. We did so by taking slow steps turning occasionally to make sure none of the spiders were following us out.

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a tight string being let go from being pulled, and then someone fall. When I turned around, Elizabeth was down, and in back of her was a thick white string. When I followed it connected to, I realized we were in trouble.

"Ash," I said in a shaky voice. This was bad. "We need to run… now."

I remembered in science class, while we were learning about insects, the teacher had brought up how spiders catch their prey. Even though spiders have six eyes, their vision isn't very good, so they rely on the vibrations of the web strings to know when dinner walked through their front door.

Fortunately, the string Elizabeth had tripped over wasn't very sticky and she was able to pull free with ease. But the spiders nonetheless felt the vibrations. We walked into their trap, and they were quick to pounce.

We, quite simply, were screwed.

We started running, but the spiders were faster and had quickly gained on us.

"This isn't working!" Ash cried out.

"And knowing the labyrinth, these spiders are all poisonous," Elizabeth said. Ash and I both looked at each other; she was probably right.

"Then what do we do?" Ash asked, "It's not exactly like we could climb up a tree to get away, they're spiders."

"We need to fight back," I said. It was the only thing that had made sense. Thinking while sprinting for your life though was not an easy thing to accomplish; thankfully, Ash had spoken for me.

"We could use the thicker branches and whack them!"

I nodded my head.

"We have to gain ground on them first," Elizabeth said. So we all tried hard to run as fast as we could.

As much ground as we gained on the spiders, it still felt like it wasn't enough time. And if we wanted the attack to be effective, it would have to be a pretty big branch. That would take more time to pull apart from the trees.

"We don't have time to fight back!" I said, suddenly opposing my own idea, "we just need to keep running, and quickly."

"Spiders are fast, Dawn. They won't tire as easily as we would," Ash said.

I looked at him hopelessly. What else was there to do?

This was where things started to get weird. We ran out of the section of the webbed cave and the spiders suddenly stopped following us; kind of what happened with the werewolf. Either we just got lucky or the labyrinth is on our side, and that boggles my mind.

I looked at Ash and Elizabeth and hoped that they knew something that I didn't.

"Maybe they can't leave their sector?" Elizabeth shot out.

"That doesn't make sense," Ash started quietly before speaking up, "if creatures in this labyrinth all have a sector, then we shouldn't have ran into the animorph guy-" I smiled at the reference, " – that Dawn had run into when she first got herself down here. We shouldn't have seen him again… and don't say that we're running in circles, because we aren't. And even if we were, I refuse to believe such things!"

Elizabeth just shrugged. I smirked inwardly at that.

**%^&***

"Left or right?" I asked when we reached a fork in the path.

"Who knows what's in store, although I can guarantee you girls that either way, we'll get into trouble. So… when in doubt, go left? Right?" Ash asked comically.

Elizabeth laughed. "I haven't actually heard of that one before," she said, playfully hitting his arm.

I rolled my eyes at the contact and focused my attention on both paths. The left path was brightly lit up as if the sun had been overhead. But while the lit path was comforting, you saw ahead, and there was a lone dirt path stretching on as the eye can see; so that route didn't lead anywhere soon. It made my heart drop knowing the safest looking path wasn't the way to go. The path over to the right, however, was darker than the road we were currently on. In place of the hedges that normally took the stance as the labyrinth walls, it seemed to be glass that was going to separate us from the other possible routes.

Both paths illuminated the way, but the right path did a better job. "I think we should go right."

"You sure?" Ash had asked me. I nodded my head in response.

"Ok."

We walked towards the darkness and into a new setting of glass walls.

***&^%**

We've been walking through the glass labyrinth for what seemed like _hours_. I expected it to be easier to walk through since it was made of glass, but the labyrinth had other plans. I had a feeling Ash was right about taking the left path, but I wasn't going to admit it, and we're definitely not turning back now.

A breeze glided past us and I shivered slightly.

"Guys," Elizabeth started, standing her ground, "where the hell are we going?"

Ash looked at me.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? It's a fucking labyrinth for God's sake," I replied defensively.

"Touch-y," she said back.

I almost let out one of those sarcastic laughs. "Honestly, what the hell Elizabeth. Maybe if you stopped flirting with Ash and started making yourself useful, I wouldn't keep on regretting letting you travel with us and _just maybe_ we'd actually get somewhere!"

Elizabeth's eyes went wide for only a split second before she smirked instead. She said nothing though.

"Dawn, calm down; you are seriously getting worked up over nothing," Ash said putting his hands on my shoulders trying to "calm me down" and putting his unneeded two-cents in.

I looked at him incredulously, then turned around and stalked off the other way.

"Jealous much," I heard Elizabeth say. I just rolled my eyes.

"Come on," I heard Ash say before I started to hear footsteps behind me. I called a silent victory for myself when Ash didn't acknowledge her and smirked inwardly.

About a half hour later, it started to rain.

"Since when can it rain?" I asked aloud.

"Since when does anything normal happen between these walls," Ash replied, and he had a point.

We started running, and the rain started coming down harder. When I looked to my left, I noticed a house, coated in darkness. Nothing was illuminating it except a window at the far end of the house that had light in it; the only reason I noticed its presence. Since I was in front of the group, and the one everyone was following, I decided not to mention the house, and just lead them all to it.

It was hard to get there; the rain started pouring down in sheets of water, the glass was getting foggy and really wet, and then there was the darkness of it all. In all, visibility was very minimal, and I was relying on memory and a small hand in logic to get us to this house.

"Finally!" I said exasperated, when we reached the house; although, it very much looked more like a mansion than a house. It was black in colour, and it looked abandoned, not taken care of. But I knew there was someone inside since there was that room at the far end was illuminated.

"Should we knock?" Elizabeth asked when we got under the sheltered entrance in front of the door. The doors were huge and the door knockers were certainly unique; they were human faces with wide eyes, as for the knockers, the you had to pull down on the jaw so that it would hit the door to knock.

"After you," I responded, my voice clipped. Elizabeth was getting on my last nerve.

But she only nodded at me, took the knocker by the jaw and fiercely knocked twice.

After five minutes of waiting, we were about to camp out on the steps, but someone had finally answered our knocks.

"Did you knock?" asked a weak voice, "the Mistress hadn't had a knock in ages."

We all turned around to see who the voice belonged to.

He was a frail man, and very tall. He wore black clothes and had vibrant green eyes and snow white hair. His long boney fingers wrapper themselves around the outside door handle and opened the door wider.

"Please come in," the man said eagerly, "the Mistress will be _so_ pleased."

I was taken aback by the beauty of the mansions inside. It looked polished and brand new, which was a stellar contrast from the outside frame. It lead me to believe that whoever his mistress was, didn't actually want a knock on her front door.

"If you'll follow me, I'll take you right to her," he said leading the way. We all followed, grateful to be out of the storm outside.

The man led us to these large twin black oak doors. "She's just this way," he said, grasping both door handles and opening them into a much larger room.

I heard myself gasp; I cupped my hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming.

There was a set in front of us; a ballroom scene. The actual ballroom was the backdrop; it was grand, beautiful, and full of people. These people though, were like dolls for they didn't move nor speak. There were some placed on the dance floor and were held from strings into place; like marionettes. All of these people had cuts starting from the tip of their lips down to the end of their jaws.

"Are these-" Ash started to ask.

"Human?" the man finished for him, "Yes. They all volunteered their lives to the Mistress. Though, their real eyes are gone, they were replaced with glass eyes as to not blink for long periods of time, and their mouths move at the Mistress' command. They are, of course, all a part of her grand doll collection."

"I see," Ash said turning towards me with eyes screaming _distrust_. We must be on our guard.

As I passed by one of these human dolls, I heard something shift. I turned around and saw one of the chairs at the table had shifted and the girl sitting on it was looking straight at me. She had black hair with a white elaborate bow in her hair and a long faded blue dress.

I looked at her curiously before I heard Ash call my name. I gave the girl one more look over before I followed Ash's voice to where they were.

The closer we got to the next set of double doors, the "fresher" these _doll-_**people** were. Small pools of blood were found underneath their feet, and their shirts were soaked from the cut along their jaw, and probably a few other cuts at their torsos.

"Sorry about the mess," the man croaked, "didn't finish cleaning it all."

"What is this place?" Elizabeth asked.

"It is called the Marionette Manor."

"Three guesses as to where it found its name," Ash asked sarcastically.

Instead of leading us through the double doors, like I had thought, there was a narrow hallway in a poorly lit section of the ballroom. It was to the right of the tall brown wooden doors.

We stopped before the hallway. The light from the ballroom provided no help as to where the end of the hallway would drop us off, and the mystery of it all was unsettling.

"In you go. I'll meet you there in a bit," he said, wearing a smile on his face.

Ash was the last person to walk into the hallway, and when we started walking forward, we heard a _bang_ from behind us.

Things only got more unsettling when I turned around to lit ballroom only to see darkness.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> So, I did keep my longer chapter promise, since this is the longest chapter I've ever written for this story. I got a writer's kick after watching As Above, So Below. Anyway, I split this chapter into two because I had a thought that ran really long, so I'm just gonna put that in another chapter. Honestly, if I make you guys wait this long again, I should give up :P. Reason for length in time: _Hundred book challenge_ actually. (Read 100 books in a year). Next chapter won't take this long.

Keep Reading & Review for cyber hugs :),  
><strong>PorcelainDollxx<strong>


End file.
